1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to an AV (Audio Video) signal storage method and apparatus and a television (TV) having an AV signal storage function, and more particularly, to an AV signal storage method and apparatus for efficiently managing storage units and a TV having an AV signal storage function.
2. Description of the Related Art
A major example of broadcast stream storage apparatuses is personal video recorder (PVR) systems. PVR systems can receive an AV signal (or AV data, or AV stream). The AV signal can include a broadcast stream. Accordingly, an AV signal storage function can be defined as a broadcast stream storage function.
PVR systems are also called digital video recorder (DVR) systems. PVR systems include storage units such as hard disk drives (HDDs) which store, in real time, a stream of broadcasting programs (or a broadcast stream) transmitted from a broadcasting station and reproduce the stream at a time desired by a user.
Unlike conventional analog video cassette recorders (VCRs), HDD-embedded PVR systems store audio and video information as digital data. Therefore, the HDD-embedded PVR systems can guarantee lossless image quality despite the unlimited reproduction of the digital data and provide functions similar to those of VCRs.
A core function of PVR systems is a time shift function which enables a viewer to simultaneously store and reproduce a broadcasting program that the viewer is watching on television (TV). For example, when a viewer is interrupted by a phone call while watching a broadcasting program, if the viewer presses a pause button on a remote control, broadcast streams received thereafter are stored in a hard disk. After the phone call, if the viewer presses a playback button on the remote control, the viewer can watch the broadcasting program from a scene temporally stopped and thereafter stored in the hard disk. In other words, PVR systems can simultaneously perform storing and reproducing operations at regular time intervals using the time shift function.
TVs having a PVR function also have the time shift function described above.
To provide the time shift function, conventional PVR systems or TVs having the PVR function keep embedded HDDs always turned on. However, after initial driving, the HDD, which is set ON, rotate more than 5400-7200 RPM per minute. Consequently, if the HDD is always kept ON the life of the HDDs is shortened, which, in turn, shortens the life of PVR systems or TVs having the PVR function.
In addition, the time spent on initially driving the HDDs results in a loss in received broadcast streams and delays an output of the received broadcast streams.